Ecclesall Road fire: Drama as residents flee fire through upstairs windows as blaze grips Sheffield home

People were seen jumping from upstairs windows after a major fire engulfed a home in Sheffield today.

Eyewitnesses told The Star they had seen residents escaping the house on Ecclesall Road via the upstairs windows, as the blaze took hold of the property late this morning, with fire engines and ambulances attending the scene.

But it is understood no one was seriously injured in the blaze.

Firefighters believe the blaze to have been caused by an electrical fault involving a lithium scooter battery charger.

A section of Ecclesall Road was closed for around three hours while firefighters from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service dealt with the blaze.

Witnesses who were at the scene reported seeing flames billowing out of the front bay window at the height of the fire. They also described hearing ‘explosions’ inside the house while it was ablaze.

They told the Star that Yorkshire Ambulance Service also been called out, and that some of those living in the house had been taken away by ambulance. However they did not believe that those affected by the fire had been seriously injured.

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It is understood from witnesses at the scene that the house had suffered ‘nearly 100 per cent damage’ in the blaze, and had been reduced virtually to a shell.

The neighbours, in the semi next to the burning house, were not injured and their house is believed to have escaped damage.

Everyone was out of the burning house by the time firefighters arrived, said witnesses, and a total of five fire engines were at the scene to deal with the incident.

The crews used breathing apparatus as well as hoses to put the fire out.

After the fire had been extinguished, the bay window remained scorched and the extent of the damage inside the building could be seen, through the open door, with the inside appearing to be completely blackened.

Emergency services closed a section of the road while while they dealt with the fire, which was on the section of Ecclesall Road close to Marks and Spencer and Champs.

A police car parked across the road on the Hunters Bar side of the cordon, while a fire engine was parked across the carriageway at the city centre end.

Buses were diverted from their normal route along Ecclesall Road because the incident.